Andy Rubin Out, Sundar Pichai In As Android Chief

To hear Google CEO Larry Page tell it, the man responsible for the birth of Android as we know it is Andy Rubin, who brought the idea of a standards-based mobile operating system to Google in 2004. Since then, Android has of course become the world’s most-used mobile OS, and it can be found running on all manner of devices great and small.

Before Rubin’s innovation, said Page in a blog post, “It was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile experiences.”

Now, Andy Rubin has decided to move on and is stepping aside from his post as Google’s Android chief. Sundar Pichai will step in to fill Rubin’s shoes. Pichai suddenly has his hands in some of Google’s most important projects; in addition to his new job heading up the Android group, he is also responsible for working on Chrome and Apps.

Page’s announcement did not say what Rubin will be doing next, but he is apparently staying on at Google. What exactly he will be doing at the company is still a mystery, although Page’s request to Rubin--”More moonshots, please!”--indicates that he’s going to be contributing in a big way. (Your best guesses are welcome and encouraged in the comments.)